Chopra, who was sworn in on May 22, 2009, works closely with U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra. Prior to taking his position in the Obama administration, Chopra was Virginia's Secretary of Technology. In the White House, according to his official bio, his job included "fostering new ideas and encouraging government-wide coordination to help the country meet its goals from job creation, to reducing health care costs, to protecting the homeland."

News of his impending departure was first reported by Fedscoop. (See CNET's Molly Wood and Declan McCullagh chat with Chopra in the following video.)

As the federal government's first Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra did groundbreaking work to bring our government into the 21st century. Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans, to expanding access to broadband for rural communities, to modernizing government records. His legacy of leadership and innovation will benefit Americans for years to come, and I thank him for his outstanding service.

Just last week, Chopra was in San Francisco promoting the president's Summer Jobs + program, "a call to action for businesses, nonprofits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth for the summer of 2012."

Fedscoop reported that while it's not known who will take Chopra's place, likely successors include U.S. Department of Health and Human Services CTO Todd Park; Veterans Affairs CTO Peter Levin; and Homeland Security CIO Richard Spires.